Many digital cable, satellite and terrestrial television systems transmit an incoming television signal provided by a television provider to a set-top box or other television receiver. The set-top box may receive the encrypted signal and convert it into a signal that the user's television recognizes in order to display it to the user. By utilizing the set-top box of the television system, the user may view several multimedia programs offered by the system for the user's entertainment.
To allow the user to interact with the system, the set-top box may provide an interface to and receive inputs from the user of the television system. For example, the user may utilize a remote control to access the set-top box to select a particular channel to view. The user may input the desired channel directly from the remote or may select the channel from a on-screen guide. Generally, the on-screen guide may include a list of all available channels to the user and some indication of what may be currently airing on each available channel. Some on-screen guides also allow the user to locate multimedia programs that may air on a particular channel in the future by scrolling ahead in time through the guide.
Further, some set-top boxes also allow the user to configure the on-screen guide to provide a different look and different options to different users. For example, the user may select certain channels that may be included in a favorite channels list. The on-screen guide may then be altered to only show the channels that are included on the user's favorite channel list, thereby reducing the total number of available channels shown to the user on the on-screen guide. Other features of the on-screen guide may provide the user with pay-per-view programs, may allow the user to record television programs to a digital video recorder, and restrict certain channels from being viewed by children based on a program rating.
Generally, whether in the full guide mode or favorites list mode, the on-screen guide may initially show whatever channel is currently being viewed by the user and the surrounding channels. For example, if the user is watching a local channel (such as channel 2) and accesses the on-screen guide, the set-top box will initially present the user with a view that includes the current local channel, as well as several surrounding channels (such as channels 3-10). However, when the user is viewing the on-screen guide, some multimedia programs that may be of interest to the viewer may not be presented without requiring the viewer to scroll through the guide to find a particular program or channel. Thus, what is needed is an on-screen guide that presents multimedia channels or programs to the user that may be of interest to the user, without the necessity of the user to scroll through the on-screen guide to find the particular program.